Filled bag sewing machine



Aug. 17, 1937. I. F. WEBB FILLED BAG SEWING MACHINE Filed Feb. -7, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 gywQ/WM Irving E I l Ebb Aug. 17, 1937. I. F. WEBB FILLED BAG SEWING MACHINE Filed Feb. 7, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwuc/wtoa Irving E Wbb Aug. 17, 1937. WE 2,090,587

FILLED BAG SEWING MACHINE Filed Feb. 7, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 E i 1mg g W i gwucnfon Irv-1'77 F ll bb Mme Patented Aug. 17, 1937 UNlTED STATES PAT r orF cs Singer Manufacturing Company,

Elizabeth,

N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 7, 1935, Serial No. 5,340

3 Claims.

This invention relates to sewing machines and has for an object to provide a sewing machine head with supporting means whereby such sewing machine head may be shifted to any desired position within a predetermined field of action and may travel freely in any horizontal direction from such position during a sewing operatiomthe present construction having been particularly designed for use in closing the mouths of grouped filled bags, without the necessity of moving the bags.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sewing machine outfit for use in mills or other establishments not requiring the performance of a large volume of work and in which the sewing machine outfit may readily be brought to the work, instead of bringing the work to the machine, and which, when brought to the work, may be caused-to operate thereupon without moving the work. a

20 With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations, and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodi- 5 ment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attainedthereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. l is a side 30 elevation of a filled bag sewing apparatus embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a section, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 2-2, Fig. 1. Fig.

i 3 is a top plan view and Fig. 4 a rear elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5, 35 Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the machine supporting post on the line 55, Fig. 4. Fig; 7 is a vertical longitudinal section through the horizontal machine-supporting arm. Figs. 8, 9 and 10, are; respectively, sections on the lines 40 8-8, 99, l5-I5, Fig. 1'. Fig. 11 is a section on the line H -l I, Fig. 1. Fig. 12 is a disassembled perspective viewof one of the pairs of truck wheels and their supporting axle shown in Figs. '7 and 8. Fig. 13 is a section on the line l3l3, 45 Fig. 1, and Fig. 14 is a section on the line Ml4,

Fig. 13.

According to the specific embodiment of the invention chosen for the purposes of the present disclosure, I represents a main supporting truck 50 including a cast-iron base 2 having fixed supporting axles 3 at its two front corners for a front pair of wheels 4. The base 2 has cast integral therewith adjacent its rearward end two lateral extensions 5 under which are mounted the ballbearing casters 5 each of which is free to turn about its vertical axis i, Fig. 5.

Bolted to and rising from the forward end of the truck-base 2 is a tubular main-supporting post 5 on which is journaled by means of roller bearings 9, Fig. 6, the upper and lower collars 55, ll of the arm-supporting casting l2 including the projecting stud E3 to which the horizontal arm M is bolted. A brace 15 is connected at its upper end to the bolt it through the arm l5 and is connected at'its lower end to'the ear H on the casting i2. The roller-bearing cavity in the upper collar it! is closed at its upper end by means of the cover-ring l8 fitted with the usual dust-excluding felt washer 19.

The working elevation of the arm 54 is predetermined by resting the arm-supporting casting i2 upon the ball-thrust bearing 25, Fig. 6, sustained by the verticallyadjustable sleeve 2i surrounding the post 3. The sleeve M is formed at one side with a housing 22 for the shaft 23 and gear 2 1 keyed thereto which meshes with the rack 25 cut in the side of the post 8. The shaft 23 also has fixed thereto the worm gear 26 with which meshes the Worm ii on the shaft 28 carrying the hand-crank 29 by means of which the working elevation of the horizontal arm l4 may be adjusted at the will of the operator. As

the gearing is irreversible, no means is required to lock the gearing against rotation when the hand of the operator is removed from the crank 29.

The horizontal arm M is preferably made from a strip of sheet metal folded longitudinally to form an inverted trough the edges of which are curled inwardly to provide spaced parallel trackways 30 for the wheels 3| of the suspended auxiliary truck 32. The wheels 3! are arranged in pairs on the shafts-33 which turn in bearingsin the truck-suspension arms 3 Bolted rigidly to the auxiliary truck 32 is the central vertically depending shaft 35 on which is journaled, on the ball-thrust step bearing 35',

the supporting casting 35 for the conventional filled bag sewing machine head 31 and its driving motor 38, which latter runs continuously.

The sewing head and motor-supporting casting 36 is fitted with a handle-bar 39 which may be grasped by the operator to guide or steer the sewing head along its proper course which, in

closing a filled bag, such as shown at A, Figs. 1' and 3, is along a straight line between the full and dotted line positions shown in Fig. 3; the

machine head swivelling around the vertical shaft 35 which is carried by the auxiliary truck 32 running lengthwise of the horizontally swinging arm tor 38.

' vertical-axis about which the horizontal arm [4 I I 4 which has a full sweep about the post 8 of nearly 360 degrees.

The sewing head 31 has the usual stitch-forming mechanism including the reciprocatory needle 31'. It also has the usual presser-foot 31 four-motion feed-dog 31 and main shaft 31 carrying the tight and loose pulleys 40, 4| which are driven by the belt 42 running from the mo- A belt-shipper lever 43, Fig. 11, is fulcrumed at 44 on the casting 36 and has an operating handle 45 paralleling the handle-bar 39.

The belt-shipper lever 43 is biased by the spring 46 in a direction to shift the belt 42 onto the loose pulley 4|. To start the sewing machine head, the operator grasps both the handlebar 39 and belt-shipper handle 45 and squeezes the latter toward the former. The subsequent release of the handle 45 permits the spring 46 to act to shift the belt 42 onto the loose pulley 4| and also to apply the brake-arm 41 of the lever 43 to the sewing machine balance-wheel 48.

A heavy counterweight 49 is applied to the rearward end of the main supporting truck I which end is connected to the upper end of the post 8 by means of the tie-rod 50; The post 8 is approximately vertical but preferably not strictly so, being inclined slightly forwardly or toward the left, Fig. 1, at its upper end. This slight inclination causes the horizontal arm to feebly gravitate to the forward position shown in Fig. 1.

There may be clamped to the tie-rod 50a hook in position to be turned to engage the brace l5 when the arm I4 is turned to a rearward position, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. With the arm l4 fastened in this position, the truck 2 may conveniently be pulled or pushed over the fioor by the universally swivelled propelling tongue 52 from one location to another where there is work to be done. on the horizontal pin 53, Fig. 1, which is carried by the yoke-piece 54 swivelled on the tie-rod 50 against which the tongue 52 may be leaned, as shown in Fig. 1, when notbeing handled.

The axis of the post 8 constitutes the main and sewing head 3! may be swung to shift the sewing head to any desired working position within the circular area or field swept by the arm l4. The axis of the shaft 35 constitutes the subordinate vertical axis about which the sewing head may be swung relative to the carrier or truck 32 to properly orient the machine head 31 relative to the work or bag to be stitched.

It will be understood that the present outfit may be readily moved to or amid the filled and more or less disorderly arranged bags of. a group and the sewing head moved in any direction from bag to bag at a constant working elevation, enabling the variously positioned bags within the circular sweep of the arm l4 to be closed by seams running in various horizontal directions, without moving the bags. The hand-crank 29 is, of course,

The tongue 52 is swivelled turned to adjust the sewing head 31 to the proper height to suit the bags to be closed.

It will be observed in Fig. 8 that the truck 32, including its wheels 3|, substantially fills the widthwise space within the arm l4 and hence the truck and shaft 35 cannot tilt sidewise of the arm from a vertical position. The distance between the wheels 3|, Fig. '7, lengthwise of the arm I4 is sufiicient relative to the short, shaft 35 to prevent tilting of the latter toward or away from the main post 8. Thus, the shaft 35 is maintained at all times in parallelism with the main supporting post 8 and the sewing machine is maintained at a predetermined working elevation to sew a truly horizontal line of stitches as distinguished from an upwardly concave line of stitches such as sewn by a dangling or pendulous sewing machine. 7

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. In a sewing apparatus, the combination with a sewing machine head having stitch-forming and work-feeding mechanisms, of means for supporting said sewing machine head for turning movements at a constant working elevation about spaced parallel axes which are relatively shiftable toward and away from one another, and means tially in parallelism.

2. A filled bag sewing machine having, in combination, a vertically disposed supporting member, a horizontal arm free at one end and journaled at its opposite end on said vertical supporting member for free horizontal swinging movements, a bearing adjustable vertically on said vertically disposed supporting member for supporting said freely swingable horizontal arm at any desired working elevation, a trackway extending lengthwise of said horizontal arm, a truck adapted to move freely alongsaid trackway, and a sewing machine including stitchforming and work-feeding mechanisms inflexibly suspended from said truck and freely turnable relative to the latter at a constant working elevation about a vertical axis.

3. In a filled bag sewing machine, a supporting structure including a horizontal arm having spaced parallel tracks extending longitudinally thereof, a truck having four wheels running two on each of said tracks, said truck including a truck-head disposed below said tracks and truckat a predetermined working elevation, and means for supporting said arm for pivotal movement transversely of its length and for vertical adjustment of its working elevation.

IRVIN G F. WEBB. 

